The copending application of Burack et al., Ser. No. 07/936,484, filed Aug. 28, 1992, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,051, granted Nov, 2, 1993, hereby incorporated by reference herein, describes a unique method for routing optical fibers on an optical backplane as is deskable, for example, for interconnecting printed wiring boards of an electronic system. The Burack et al. apparatus uses a robotic manipulator having a vertical axis that can be controlled to move in X and Y directions and in the .theta. direction around its vertical axis. A rotatable routing wheel is mounted on a free end of the manipulator, and a reel containing optical fiber to be routed is mounted on one side of the manipulator. The fiber is threaded over a peripheral portion of the routing wheel such that the wheel can press the fiber against an adhesive-coated surface of a substrate to cause it to adhere to the coated surface. The manipulator is then moved at an appropriate speed and direction to cause the wheel to rotate and to exert sufficient tension on the optical fiber to cause it to unwind from the reel and to be fed to the routing wheel for adherence to the coated surface, thereby to form a continuous optical fiber portion extending along, and adhered to, the coated surface.
In the production of photonic or optical devices of a type to be used in conjunction with an optical backplane, it is customary to package the devices such that optical fibers (known in the art as "pigtails") extend from the devices. One could form the optical backplane with different optical fiber and then splice the optical backplane fiber to the fiber extending from the device; but it would be preferable if one could route the fiber extending from the device directly onto the optical backplane. There is therefore a need for a technique to improve the placement and routing of optical fibers extending from, and connected to, devices.